Moving Up to International Level: Anne Okkema: “The Horses Are World-Class, Now It’s My Turn”

17 June 2026, 19:15 Sport

In recent years, the number of competitors in the four-in-hand horse division seemed to be declining. Drivers who had competed at the highest level for many years retired from the sport, yet Anne Okkema decided to step up to the international level in 2025. What convinced him to take on this challenge, what makes his horses so special, and what are his plans for the future?

In 2025, Anne Okkema competed in two FEI 2* events and the 4* Nations Cup in Baborówko, Poland. At the end of March 2026, he made his 3* debut in Exloo, where drivers such as Kees Koops (NED), Franck Grimonprez (FRA), Marcel Luder (SUI), and Alexander Bösch (AUT) also made the transition from pairs to four-in-hand. It is a remarkable development at a time when not only the daily costs of horse management continue to rise, but also entry fees and equipment costs associated with the sport.

Why did you decide to move up to the international level?

“Fifteen years ago, together with Peter Chardon, Jelmer Chardon’s father, I bred our first Topspeed Friesians, crosses between the Russian Orlov Trotter and the Friesian horse. I decided to keep the grey horses, and they soon formed a perfect four-in-hand for horse marathon competitions. Alongside running Stal Okkema in Britswert, Friesland, where we are professionally involved in Friesian horse breeding, breaking and training horses under saddle, and producing horses for both dressage and driving sport, I have always considered four-in-hand driving more of a hobby,” Anne Okkema explains.

Together with Lieuwe Bouma and Roel van der Hoek, he founded the horse marathon series in Kubaard, which was not organised under the KNHS. “That was fantastic. At the time, I still had a full-time job. I could work all week, walk the course on Friday evening and compete on Saturday. The concept became very popular and eventually grew into a series of more than thirteen marathon competitions, with the final held in Wâlterswâld.”

A few years ago, Dutch national coach Ad Aarts saw Anne Okkema competing during the combined driving event in Gaasterland. “Later he told me he didn’t know who I was and wondered how I was going to get through the obstacles. Apparently, he liked what he saw because it went much better than he expected! Ad asked me whether I wanted to move up to a higher level, but I turned him down. I thought: no, that’s not for me. I’m perfectly happy driving marathon competitions and I don’t need everything to become so serious.”

Until he found himself thinking about it later in the car. “I thought: if I ever want to do this, this is my chance. I called Ad and told him that my horses had the potential, but I wasn’t sure whether he thought the driver behind them did. He told me he did. After that, I attended my first squad training session. That was two years ago.”

Have you learned a lot from those training sessions?

“Yes, an incredible amount. Ad radiates calmness and confidence. If I walk a cones course by myself, I barely manage to figure it out. Let alone how I’m supposed to get through it with four horses. Ad takes you by the hand and guides you through it step by step.”

The training has also helped him significantly with dressage. “I openly admit that it’s my own fault our dressage scores are not where they should be. I spent years driving wild marathon competitions and never really focused on having the horses properly prepared for dressage. I wasn’t used to working them that way, but neither were the horses.”

“I was used to driving fast and taking large loops through the obstacles. In dressage, however, you need to use the accelerator much more subtly, and the loops need to be much smaller and smoother. There’s still a lot of progress to be made because if you are already thirty points behind the winner after dressage, it is impossible to make up that deficit in the marathon and cones.”

Photo: Fleur Louwe

Have you made major changes since starting internationally?

“Not really. Stal Okkema continues as normal, but naturally more time now goes into the four-in-hand. We attend squad training sessions, work on the feedback we receive and follow a competition schedule.”

The team around him has changed somewhat. “During the international competition in Poland last year, Thys Fopma, my former top groom, discovered that he didn’t enjoy being away from home because of his children’s farm. As a result, Jenny Visser joined our team. She works here at the yard full-time and travels with us to the international competitions. She doesn’t have experience at that level either, so it’s an adventure we’re taking on together.”

“In Exloo, we received a yellow card because we had attached the wrong bridle numbers to the horses during the veterinary inspection. We had changed a horse at the last minute and assumed the replacement horse would simply take over the letter of the horse it replaced, but that wasn’t how it worked. We therefore received an official warning. It was frustrating, but we simply didn’t know the procedure beforehand. At least we won’t make that mistake again in the future. You learn by doing.”

What advice would you give drivers who want to start competing internationally?

“Never give up. You need a great deal of perseverance, not only when you are just starting out but also if you have been competing at the highest level for years.”

“And speaking for myself, you also need to be willing to make sacrifices. Nothing falls into your lap in this sport, that much I’ve learned. But it’s a wonderful sport, and the atmosphere at international competitions is fantastic. You spend an entire week together in the same place, and by the end everyone knows each other and new friendships have been formed.”

What does the business of Stal Okkema look like?

Stal Okkema specialises in training, buying and selling Friesian horses. Around fifty horses are stabled there at any given time. Some are being started under saddle or in harness, while others are being trained on to a higher level. A number of the horses belong to clients and return to their owners once they have been started or trained, but most of the horses are owned by Stal Okkema and are later sold to suitable riders or drivers.

“We believe it’s important that the horses are worked regularly. We would rather do a little with them six days a week than make them extremely tired two or three times a week. Lunging, harness training and backing are all mixed together. As a result, the horses become accustomed to all the activity around the yard and in the arena, and after a while very little surprises them anymore.”

“We think it’s important that anyone should be able to take them out and drive or ride them, and that they can go on to have versatile sporting careers. I mainly focus on the driving side of things. Our eldest daughter Wendy has trained several horses to Grand Prix level and is a partner in the business. Our youngest daughter Rianne spent many years working abroad but now works full-time with us again. The business has developed into a very versatile family operation with highly skilled staff that we enjoy working with. Because Stal Okkema sells many horses internationally, we have also built up extensive experience with all the paperwork involved. We have dedicated office staff who take care of those matters, allowing us to handle horse sales all over the world from start to finish.”

Photo: Fleur Louwe

You are a great ambassador for the Friesian horse. Why are the horses in your team grey?

“That’s true. I buy and sell many Friesian horses, train them, maintain a lot of international contacts and I’m always happy to contribute when people ask for my input within the KFPS studbook. Through those international contacts came the idea of travelling 4,000 kilometres across America with a four-in-hand of Friesian horses. We lived in tents, carried feed for the horses with us and bought additional hay from farms along the way whenever possible. It was an incredible adventure that I still look back on with a smile.”

“Even though I have bred and worked with countless Friesian horses, I strongly believe that the KFPS should not simply introduce blood from other studbooks into the breed. Even though I personally do a lot of crossbreeding.”

“The Topspeed Friesians are a good example of that, but I also love unusual colours and enjoy crossing Friesians with Andalusians and dressage horses. For example, we have the remarkable Roelemans VHS (Nane 492 x Hennessy), a very striking horse to look at. We also have a Glamourdale x Friesian cross, a Totilas x Friesian cross, several black-and-white horses and we have even bred an Appaloosa!”

“Still, I think the Orlov makes the perfect driving horse. They naturally have plenty of movement and you never have to shout at them during the marathon. They have incredible stamina and always want to keep going. It’s a shame I didn’t prepare them better for dressage, but now we’re all being retrained, myself included. I have to say that every time I come home from a training session with Ad, I have renewed energy and enthusiasm to get back to work with them.”

Topspeed Friesians

Through René Choop from England, Anne Okkema received the suggestion to look into the Russian Orlov Trotter because the breed contains old Friesian bloodlines. The founder of the breed was Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (1737–1807). Initially, he enjoyed the favour of Catherine the Great because he had helped her gain power. Following his victories in the Greek seas as an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, Orlov was rewarded with extensive estates.

His goal was to breed a fast and reliable carriage horse suitable for travelling with sledges and coaches across the vast and often harsh Russian countryside. The horses needed to look elegant and display impressive knee action in trot. They were intended to work in front of the famous Russian troika.

Seventeen years ago, Anne purchased the approved Orlov stallion Topspeed Perry (Krikem x Perepel) in Germany and turned him out with a group of Friesian mares. Roughly a quarter of the offspring were grey. “That was quite unusual for Friesian crosses, so I decided to keep them.” Anne operated the breeding programme together with Peter Chardon, Jelmer Chardon’s father. Together they named the horses Topspeed Friesians.

The horses are now fifteen years old. Anne also has the second generation at the yard. Those horses are now five years old and have developed into versatile and pleasant horses, both under saddle and in front of the carriage.

Photo: Fleur Louwe

What is your goal?

“We’ll keep doing our best and then we’ll see where it leads. It would be fantastic if we were selected for the World Championship in Aachen this year, but our dressage really does need to improve. I am convinced that my horses are potential world champions. The only question is whether the person sitting behind them has the same potential.”

“What makes this difficult is that I’m quite stubborn. I have a great deal of confidence in my horses and therefore don’t want to make changes too quickly. However, I do expect that next year I will replace one or two horses in the team. I need a little more relaxation and stability in the team, horses that can maintain a good frame more consistently in dressage.”

“But again, I’m stubborn and I trust my horses. I don’t expect to make those changes until 2027. They’ll still be Topspeed horses, just from a younger generation. Of course, I could simply buy horses from other people, but I don’t get any satisfaction from that. Breeding and training horses is my profession, and I want to keep combining that with my sport.”

Statement: The future looks bright for four-in-hand driving

“It’s an incredibly beautiful sport, so I would be surprised if it didn’t have a future. I also hope that people like Jelmer Chardon and Paskal de Graaf continue to push forward and eventually join the international ranks.

At the same time, competing internationally requires a huge commitment. You’re often away from home for five days or more, while the work at home still needs to be done. I don’t believe you’ve made it in the sport simply because people know your name. Instead, you need to make sure people recognize that you belong among the very best. That’s exactly what Dries Degrieck is doing right now, and it’s fantastic to see.”

Photo: Fleur Louwe